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Adventures of an Information Architect Upon Receiving a Letter
from the IRS As a blobhead, someone who typically gets lost in information, I try to make it through a pile of mail without becoming hopelessly confused. It's not easy. I’m often bombarded with documents that I would not classify under "usable." Recently, for example, I received a letter from the IRS:
Huh? Naturally, I had no idea what my "problem" is … although … mental model employed here … I suspected my problem had something to do with taxes. So imagine my relationship --as a user of information-- with this letter. This is what I "read":
It was not a happy scene. So I went looking for information. And found in a subject line the words "Tax Period: Dec. 31, 1997" "What does that mean?" I wondered. "Is this for the entire year 1997?" "What year is it now?" "Does that mean that this is for taxes that I filled out in 1998?" "What the hell happened in 1998?" "What happened in 1997?" I had trouble remembering the years… I couldn't even begin to fathom the taxes. So I searched for more information…which I "sort of" found in this statement:
"If I have … or have not … received my refund…." Yuk. What does this mean? Since 1998 I have switched accountants, lost all recall of any tax refund problems, and no longer retain "notices relating to my situation." So as I write this, I have delegated my letter from the IRS to a to do pile that never gets to done. And I've alerted my new accountant to see what he can learn about "enclosed form 3911." I'm thankful that I now have a good accountant to help me through this. I empathize with everyone who has to decipher such mail without help. © 2002, Info dot Design, Inc. |
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